Judgment On Syria And Ephraim (17:1-18:7)
Neal Pollard
Isaiah moves to Syria and Israel, immediate neighbors to the north, in this judgment oracle. This refers us back to the trouble and oppression these two brought on Judah, discussed in chapters seven and eight. Once again, the judgment is that they would come down from their lofty positions. Damascus, capital of Syria, would cease to be a city and would be a heap of ruins (1). Aroer is a city near Damascus, and it would be deserted (2). Ephraim, the largest tribe of the northern kingdom, represents the whole of Israel. When Isaiah speaks of the “glory of Jacob” (4), this also refers to Israel. Its fortress would disappear (3) and it would suffer the drought and famine brought by divine judgment (5-6). They, at least a remnant of them, would learn the painful lesson of their idolatry and apostasy (7-8) in the day when they suffered desertion and desolation (9). Judah had forgotten God’s salvation and did not trust Him for refuge, so harvest would be replaced with “grief and incurable pain” if they failed to learn the lesson God would soon inflict on their northern neighbors (10-11). This prophesy would be fulfilled by the destructive invasion and captivity of Assyria. Syria suffered this in 732 B.C. and Israel in 722 B.C. Israel, as a nation, would be destroyed. The majority of the descendants of Abraham, God’s chosen people, would be killed or permanently removed from their inheritance. Notice three “in that day” phrases, referring in turn to the destruction of Israel (4), the destruction of both Syria and Israel (7), and that the destruction of those two nations was a warning to Judah (9).
Isaiah broadens his focus suddenly and without warning, with the interjection “ah” (12). He shifts from Syria and Israel to “many peoples” and “nations” (12). He will do this a second time with the same interjection in 18:1. What was true of Syria and Israel was equally true of all nations, even the dominant world power of the moment (Assyria). None of them were a match for God’s power. The nations might roar with power (13), but God with a rebuke would make them run away in terror and disappear like dust and chaff before the wind (13-14). Judah should not seek alliance with any nation, but trust in the God much more powerful than them all (14). This is true of the Ethiopians, who were bringing ambassadors (18:1) to Judah. Whatever message they came to bring Judah, Isaiah sends them home with a message. It is the same message of the previous chapter, that God is more powerful than any nation. They should pay close attention to His power (18:4-6). Isaiah closes this oracle anticipating a time when the Cushites (Ethiopians) would come to Jerusalem to worship God (18:7). This hearkens back to Isaiah’s grand anticipation of the Messianic age (2:1-4), and I cannot help but think of the Ethiopian eunuch returning from Jerusalem where he had worshipped and how he was converted to Christ on that journey home (Acts 8:25-39).
These two chapters paint the gloomy picture of Israel’s future because they forgot God. It is also a warning to Judah, who was in the process of doing the same (17:9-11). The most fearsome of enemies are no match for God (17:14; 8:5-6). Ultimately, all nations would be “conquered” by the glory and greatness of God in the person of Christ (Acts 1:8; Col. 1:23)! Truly, “The evidence is clear: God can deliver individuals and nations from those who oppose them, but there is no promise to take away all times of persecution or oppression. Believers need to trust him and honor him, because he is God and he sovereignly controls the destiny of every nation and every person on earth” (Smith, Gary, NAC, 352-353).
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